


witching hour

by winterbitch (WinterLadyy)



Series: witch bucky [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, BAMF Bucky Barnes, Complicated Relationships, Gen, M/M, Magic, POV Outsider, Reunions, Witch Bucky Barnes, it's complicated again, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22105711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterLadyy/pseuds/winterbitch
Summary: Rhodey always knew that there was something strange about Tony's connection with Barnes, even though they never met, but it's not until they're fighting a witch in New York that he realizes just how strange and deep it is.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark
Series: witch bucky [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591141
Comments: 8
Kudos: 197





	witching hour

**Author's Note:**

> copied from tumblr. i just love magic, slavic magic, and bamf bucky thats all

Rhodey always knew there was something…not quite right with his best friend.

Sometimes he would look at old pictures from WW2 with longing in his eyes and there was always a picture of Howling Commandos somewhere in their shared room in MIT. Rhodey always thought it was just stupid teenage crush, but years came and nothing changed and here they are now, watching as Bucky fucking Barnes fights Captain America on some bridge.

He turns to face his friend and his heart stops when he sees Tony’s face. His best friend is pale, his eyes wide, full of pain deeper than Rhodey thought could be there.

He wants to hug his friend, ask what’s wrong, help somehow, but Tony shakes himself aware again, and the moment is gone. They don’t say anything, just watch, and it’s only 3 days later that Steve comes back, beaten and horrified and shocked and they hole up in the workshop for a few hours.

That night Rhodey holds Tony as his friend cries over his parents, over what Hydra did to them, over what they did to an innocent man. When Rhodey sees the files, it takes all of his professional facade to stay upright and not puke.

“Tones?” he asks quietly when they’re sitting together and sipping grape juice. “What’s wrong?”

A question like this is always a gamble because Tony hides from emotions and escapes deep talks, but his friend seems to be in a mood because he sighs and looks at Rhodey with haunted eyes.

“I’m just…shocked,” Tony whispers in a hoarse voice. “By how much he suffered.”

Rhodey knows that Tony cares deeply and intensely, but the way he says “he”, as if he knows Barnes personally as if he’s not a stranger. It’s the way Tony says his name, Pepper’s name, how he talks about the Avengers.

A friend, someone he holds close and dear.

But they never met.

He’s left with hundreds of questions and no answers as the Avengers throw themselves into dismantling Hydra and his work calls again. For some time, Rhodey pushes those thoughts away, and it works, because life doesn’t stop just because a fallen hero of WW2 came back to life.

Then, the whole “witch” thing happens and Rhodey is thrown right back into the madness.

As if New York doesn’t have enough issues, they seem to have acquired a witch, a real European witch, wearing rags and long skirts, with a croaky voice and thin arms.

The old lady is very lively though, as they’re fighting for 4 hours and still nothing changes. They’re exhausted, all of them, and Iron Man has taken a beating, so Rhodey’s heart is pounding both from the effort and the stress. 

They all watch, horrified, as the witch raises a hue of dark red energy, slowly covering the sky. They don’t have any magic users with them, so it’s basically throwing stones at a wall, but still, they want to fight, even as the sun starts to set.

Of course, it’s the day before Halloween, so everything is even more creepy and weird and Rhodey is really tired and Tony seems to be flagging and everyone is stressed and then something changes in the air.

The witch pauses as well, suddenly alert in a way she wasn’t before, and when Rhodey listens, he hears it. 

The laughter.

It sounds like hundreds of people laughing at the same time, all genders, all ages, twisted and wrapped into something that echoes through the air.

Rhodey swallows and glances at Tony. Frowns when he sees his friend lighting up like a damn Christmas tree, his helmet down.

Mist starts forming underneath them, thick and clogging and heavy, turning a fight into a scene from a horror movie. Tony, however, doesn’t seem alarmed. No, he’s starting to smile now, that small hopeful smile Rhodey hasn’t seen on him for a long time.

He looks around and then there’s someone on the roof of the building, next to Tony.

He flies closer and almost does a double-take when he recognizes Barnes.

“Bucky?” Steve asks, shocked and hopeful through the comms, but Barnes doesn’t glance at him.

Instead, he helps Tony stand and wow, his moves are slow and careful and from what Rhodey can see, they’re acting as if it’s not their first meeting. In the middle of everything he forgets about the witch, and she screeches at them, red energy surging up.

Then Barnes takes a step closer and a flood of bright blue appears behind him, alive and twisting, howling into the wind that suddenly appeared. Rodney shivers even in his armour and he can see that the Avengers also feel weird.

Tony just stands there, staring at Barnes as the assassin grins at the witch. It’s savage and dark and full of promise.

“He’s mine,” he says, and his voice carries. “He’s been mine for centuries.”

The witch snarls at him but she looks…afraid now, the red energy twisting like a spooked cat. Barnes smirks and waves his hand and the blue energy floods the red, the mist following. The old woman screams, her body glowing blue, and Barnes straightens, looking straight at her.

For a second, there’s someone else in his place, a hundred of someones, all deadly looking and clothed in black and feathers, shadows twisting around their shoulders.

“It’s time,” they say, voice echoing. “Go home.”

The glowing woman flickers for a second, before walking forward, right into the mist. It glows blue as well, before settling, and all that’s left is the woman’s body. It disintegrates into ash and Rhodey knows it’s Barnes’s doing.

It’s quiet for a while, no one knowing what to say, and Barnes, now back to looking like himself again, just turns around and opens his arms to Tony, who walks into them like he’s going home.

The mist goes away but the shadows stay, close around Barnes’s shoulders, now also covering Tony. The image they make is right somehow like the universe is letting out a sigh of relief.

They’re in the right place, and all the questions must wait.

**Author's Note:**

> please give me validation, i love this au


End file.
